Content Warning: brainwashing! and discussion of dark and manipulative play. This group isn’t just about the dark stuff, but I’m talking about some here openly and without shame <3

What is Psychological Kink?

MiNdfuck is first and foremost a hypnosis group, and many events and discussions will be hypnosis specific, but some of our discussion topics will be about other forms of psychological play as well!

Psychological Kink is a loose umbrella term for different mental and emotionally involved kinks such as fear play and emotional sadomasochism, emotional play, behavior modification, manipulation, gaslighting, and other emotionally-driven, psychologically-focused play! Trance is one potent and powerful way to exert influence, but there are many others as well.

In the hypnosis community, “brainwashing” is often used in a colloquial fetish way to reference behavior modification mixed with hypnosis aesthetics. But, there’s lots of ways to create associations, triggers, conditioning, and many other of the fun things hypnosis can do without hypnosis, too! And I think that’s hot, and why I want this to be a group inclusive of all mindfucking.

As a self-aware edgelord who wears a batwing every day in my neon pink hair, my personal, top non-hypnosis psychological kink interests are very aligned with hypnosis, given they are, essentially, forms of classical brainwashing. All of this can be used to condition, create associations, and form triggers, just as you can with hypnosis. In a brief, non-explicit overview:

In kink, brainwashing can look like disrupting someone’s routines and coping mechanisms, while providing new ones–perhaps even in a wholesome, safe, and caring way–to provide a new sense of grounding safety …Even though you’re the one removing that safe, grounded feeling in the first place.

But that also means chipping away a bit at the internal grounding, too. Dynamics or scenes trying to play at this may mirror some things that would be abusive if not negotiated, like breaking-down someone’s perception of themself, forcing them to apologize, gaslighting or making someone question themself, and providing manipulative praise.

It’s not too hard to then imagine how hypnosis can very easily slot into the above, as well as other psychological kinks and experiential emotional play!

Wow, gee, that sounds super-duper edgy and scary! Does that mean this is only a group for “Licensed Kink Experts™” with “Certified Experienced Kinkster Passes®” to the gates at the keep?

Of course not, this is a group for everyone! Gatekeeping prevents new people from learning! And, not all of our psychological kink discussions will go “dark.” I led with the above example because I want to be able to speak openly and break-down taboos. Playing with “positive” emotions is psychological kink, too! But if you want a space that you won’t be shamed for “dark” psychological kinks, and where we can work as a community to learn and explore the things we want, MiNdfuck is also a great group for you, no matter how “dark” your interests go and no matter how “experienced” you are!

Many of these kinks may require additional frameworks and models for safety in addition to consent, because some or all of those qualifiers we often put in front of consent–terms like ongoing, enthusiastic, sober, risk aware, affirmative, and freely given consent–are compromised by the kinks. Because of that, these things are treated as so taboo that people get judged just for talking about them! But, people are into these consent sensitive scenarios and kinks and are going to do them! So we should be talking about, discussing, and teacher safer play practices, not being shameful or shaming people.

A big part of the mission statement of MiNdfuck is to breakdown some of that shame and help give people, be they new to kink or longtime kinksters, spaces to discuss and tools to do things they want to do more safely! Because no matter where someone is in their kink journey, safer play education should be open, accessible, and not blocked-off behind some gate of presumed experience–people are going to do the hot, consent-complex, psychological kink play if they want to, so let’s make a community that helps promote safety, learning, and fulfilling exploration!